Best Pet Supply Store

Snow boots for cats, the world’s strongest catnip cigar, $112 sterling silver dog tags: This place is easy to poke fun at. But owner Alice Lerman matches frippery with function by stocking healthful foods and heuristic playthings (see the line of Swedish-designed interactive “enrichment puzzles,” more or less Rubik’s Cubes for dogs). 

Best Place for a CrossFit Workout

The first gym in Chicago to offer CrossFit, the full-body workout that draws from weightlifting, plyometrics, gymnastics, and pretty much every other fitness trend out there, this one reigns supreme. Why? Its 75-plus classes a week (more than anywhere else in town), thoughtful one-on-one assistance (goal-setting sessions, nutritional education, body composition analysis), and slow, safe … Read more

Best High-End Tailor

This 54-year-old family business specializes in bespoke suits and other garments in the world’s most luxurious fabrics (Dormeuil mohair, Loro Piana cashmere). Balani’s obsessive attention to fit has attracted such clients as celeb chef Graham Elliot and former Chicago Bear Israel Idonije. Prices range from $125 for a custom dress shirt to $30,000 for a … Read more

Best Fur Remaker

When you inherit your aunt’s outdated mink, stylists to Chicago’s rich and famous recommend bringing it to this Gold Coast shop. Fabbri will clean, repair, and recut that big-shouldered coat, transforming it into, say, an on-trend jacket or cape (and if there’s fur left over, you might just get a throw or pillow as a … Read more

Best Beard Grooming

If this place can handle Lost Lake owner Paul McGee’s legendarily wild facial hair, imagine what it can do with yours. The vibe at the 10-year-old Roscoe Village storefront harks back to neighborhood barbershops of old, but the expert stylists know all the current trends and how to best groom and shape your beard ($40)—a … Read more

Best Spa for a Massage

Like day spas at other luxury hotels, the Langham’s two-year-old facility offers virtually any massage style you could want, from Swedish to hot stone to acupressure, by highly trained therapists. But this Asian-themed spa takes pampering to new levels. (Ever luxuriate in a “sensory relaxation pod” after a massage? You can here.) No wonder Forbes … Read more